Box Score

Notes

DeKALB, Ill. -- A valiant season, the best turnaround in Mid-American Conference history, came to a heartbreaking end as the Broncos fell to MAC West Division Champion Northern Illinois, 42-7, on Thanksgiving Eve in front of 18,361 fans at Huskie Stadium.

Western Michigan (7-4, 5-3 MAC) put the first points on the board when Robbie Haas, stepping in for the injured Tim Hiller, connected with Tony Scheffler for a 19-yard touchdown at the 10-minute mark of the opening quarter.  Northern Illinois (7-4, 6-2 MAC) answered soundly with 28-straight first half points.

The Huskies took the lead and control of the game on the strength of 180 yards on the ground during the first two quarters, led by junior running back Garrett Wolfe's 156 yards and three scores on 26 carries.  Wolfe scored his 28^th, 29^th and 30^th career touchdowns during the first half alone.  He was not finished, ultimately carrying the ball 36 times for 277 yards and five touchdowns.

NIU also struck from the air as redshirt freshman Dan Nicholson connected with Sam Hurd, who finished with 107 yards on three receptions, from 53 yards out for the Huskies' third score of the day, three minutes into the second quarter.

Scheffler paced the Bronco aerial attack with nine catches for 68 yards and the one score, his ninth of the season.  Haas' touchdown completion to his senior counterpart was his first scoring strike since hitting Greg Jennings from 40 yards out at the 8:43 mark of the first quarter against Ball State on Oct. 8.

Jennings overtook Steve Neal for the WMU all-time receptions record.  He finished the day with seven catches and his career with 238, attaining the record by three receptions.  The Biletnikoff Award semifinalist came up short on yardage, finishing with 3,539 career receiving yards.

Trovon Riley came into the season finale needing 43 yards to eclipse the 1,000-yard mark for the first time in his career, carrying the ball 15 times for 47 yards.  Riley's 1,004 yards on the season makes him the first running back at WMU to reach four digits in the rushing column since Philip Reed did so with 1,053 yards in 2002.

The Huskies, who earn a trip to the MAC Championship Game due to a defeat of Toledo a week ago, will face either Bowling Green or Akron on Dec. 1 at Ford Field live on ESPN2.